Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-04-12
Especial Correspondence

In THE NAPA VALLEY, Cal, March 25
Napa valley is perhaps the richest of the
many rich valleys that debouch into the
great wheat fields of the Sacramento
valley. / do not know the meaning of
| the name Napa. 1t is, perhaps, an Indian
| word, whose meaning is lost in the obscurity
of years. For this is very old as well as a
very rich valley. Still have seen grizzly
bears feeding like huge hogs on acorns be-
tween the trees of Napa valley; and remem-
Der the time when l could gallop my horse
the whole length of the valley and not strike
a single fence So you see it has not been set
tied so very long; although it is a solid gar
den and vineyard now from one end to the
other. Four years ago France received from
this place alone 4OO, 900 gallons Of wine. l
| know it may be . little hard to
persuade you that nearly all of
your French slaret comes from this lit
tie inland valley. ! merely state the
| fact, and pass on to some of the details of
farm life here in this favored spot. The best
| FIRMS are not the big ones Ten acres are
quite enough where soil is so deep and prolific
as this. But man out here seems to think
he is playing if he does not have several hun
| dred acres. And l really think some men
here would be miserable without the GUS
tomary mortgage. Ten per cent is their usual
interest rate. l lived all last summer on one
of the richest and largest farms here-one
that was burdened neither by mortgage nor
bad management; and pr oppose to give you
some of the quiet, dull, routine life Of Cali
| fornia farmer
The house, in the first place, like nearly all
houses here, is elegant, commodious, almost
| grand. Bear in mind all Cahfornians are
travelled and cultivated people in this
part Of the country. You may find rough
rural people further on, but not here,
| where cultivated land rules at from
$50 to $500 per acre. So do not be
| surprised when l tell you that Newport
has not finer cottages than dozens to be found
on these farms. The one l speak Of is a
"bungaloo," or bungalow, as it is generally
| misspelled, and is patterned after the bunga-
loo of India. 1t is vast square edifice, set
high in the air, with broad verandas and
great central hall, pierced by four smaller
ones, with all the bedrooms in the four cor
ners and opening from without on the ver-
anda. The kitchen, dining hall and SO on are
detached, as in the southern states.
| This farm Of several hundred acres is
worked by Chinese and Portuguese entirely
No white man seems to quite fit in among
them, and, perhaps, this is best. Looking at
it from humanitarian point of view, I hold
|
the best use of which it is capable. A man
with good strong brain has no right to let
it rust out while he employs only his hands as
a hired servant. His duty is to lay hold OF
| the land and hew out way for others, with
| himself at the head. Servants are plenty,
| but masters are not numerous. Therefore,
sny let the feeble minded Chnaman and the
dull Portuguese do the heavy work with their
hands and let the brainy white mau keep III
dustl'iously to the front.
There was no friction of any sort here all
umnier e--ler between Inc laporers or labor
ers and employer. The Chinese have little
nuts or shanties ON shaded hillside by them
selves. The Portuguese also live apart. So
far rs could see the laborers kept the field
from dawn till dark, with a long sieSta of
| about two hours when the MONDAY sun was
hottest. They all seemed to be very healthy.
The water is led down from springs in the
high mountains that overriding the valley on
| either side.
One night we had some trouble from huge
bear that came down and polied his nose into
The hog pen; and one day some hoodlum pol
iticians rode up and ordered the owner of the
| place to discharge his Cinnamon on peril Of
being boycotted. In both these little disturb
ances a Winchester rifle came hastily down
from its rack. But on inquiry yesterday !
learned that neither bear nor boycotters
have been back since The Cinnamon ar.
not "bossed" at all. They do things much
their own way. You never see the
''overseer" in the field, as in the southern
states. They seem to go to work when they
please, work as they please and stop when
they please / am told that a strong and
willing white man can, if so minded, do twice
as much work as a Chinaman in a day. But
7 hoe
month through, it is a case Of the tortoise and
The hare, with the tortoise ahead at the end of
| The race nine times out of ten.
As an example of the large liberty and
absolute freedom given these little brown
heather here, am tempted to tell one little
! Incident and speech which l overheard last
| summer. The Chinese cook was about to set
| out on his annual visit to his home and parents
! in China. The mistress of the "bungaloo" babe
| him bon voyage i'll a most kindly and demo
cratic fashion. She gave him a great deal of
money at parting and very little advice But
as last admonition, feeling, perhaps, that
she had not looked quite as carefully after his
| Outstanding as she ought, she cried out as a
final order or command: Nov, Sam Linn, no
more wives! Don't you dare bring one more
wife. l won't have her about the place.
You've got two already; and that's enoughl"
/ Inc cuiei pTOuuCI cI pfOut mere Is grapes,
red grapes, white grapes, blue grapes, black
grapes, green grapes, and all sorts except sour
grapes. At every railway station you see
great stone cellars, huge tubs and tanks and
watts and barrels and busy men in their midst
The wine seems to be handled mainly by
Germans - ha
The grapes produce two crops a year here;
new thing in grape growing as far as nearly
I'll the old world knows. But you would not
'lnow vineyard in California at first sight.
Half the year il looks like field of strmps.
The other half it is tangle of dense vines
that reach to your waist And all the time
not grape in sight. You see every vine
is shorn off close to the stump in the fall and
the whole field is plowed, and you see nothing
at all but rows of stumps knee high and of all
sizes. Then in the spring the stumps shoot;
and the vines grow at such swift rate that
dare not record their speed under the hot sun
in this ardent spot of earth, for you would
hesitate to believe me. And all the time the
Cinnamon dot the fields in their white blouses
and cut the ends of the vines right and left
with long. sharp knives to keep them from
running all over the world. After awhile the
stnrlps burst into blossom, and by and by you
INT your hand down in the tla,,sxa laayaS by